User account menu

Oozes

Oozes are the product of alchemical reagents reacting with some manner of base material. The type of material varies with the environment and the intentions of the creator, producing a wide variety of subspecies with their own unique properties. Despite the common belief that these creatures are created intentionally, they are more often the products of alchemical experiments gone awry or the unintentional runoff of poorly-contained reagents reacting with the nearby environment.

Nature

Oozes are better thought of as chemicals than creatures. Although they display certain characteristics in common with very simple organisms, such as the presence of pseudopodia or an apparent need to feed, these are the result of the ongoing reaction that sustains the oozes rather than any manner of conscious effort. Left undisturbed, oozes will most often lie dormant like the contaminated liquids they are, sometimes for years, becoming active only in the presence of a substance with which they can react. Unfortunately, living creatures serve as the most ample fuel, and so oozes are quite dangerous, often times even to their creators.

Common Properties

Oozes are particularly difficult to deal with because they are adept at blending in with similar material. An alluvial muck, for instance, may appear to be nothing more than a patch of wet dirt until approached. This brand of natural camouflage makes spotting oozes difficult when they are in the same environment in which they were spawned.

Oozes are also dangerous because they are mindless. This makes their tactics straightforward and uncoordinated, but also limits the manner of dealing with them to equally straightforward forms of attack. Any attempt at diplomacy, coercion, or misdirection is useless against them.

Perhaps the best way of dealing with an ooze is to use attacks that produce sudden, intense cold. Because they are fluid creatures by nature, such attacks can slow them or even freeze them in their tracks. For this reason, sorcery is the weapon of choice when dealing with an ooze.

Classification

Every known type of ooze is classified based on the type of material out of which it is formed and the distinct properties that material imparts. These types are summarized below.

Alabaster Slush - Composed of a mixture of ice and snow, the alabaster slush is a particularly dangerous ooze known for radiating a deep chill wherever it goes. Its touch can freeze other liquids, including bodily fluids, instantly. Curiously, the alabaster slush is immune to its own icy aura, but can still be affected normally by other sources of cold.

Alluvial Muck - Perhaps the most likely to be the product of alchemical pollution, the alluvial muck is composed of sand, soil, and other types of loose earth. It is best known for flowing into natural depressions in its habitat and slowly eroding them into indiscernible pools of quicksand.

Angori Stool - By all accounts the least pleasant of all oozes, angori stool is formed from excrement. Despite its name, this can be any large concentration of excrement from any creature; the association with angori was likely introduced as an insult. In particularly disturbing cases, these creatures may be formed when alchemical reagents contaminate food or water supplies, subsequently ending up in privies or sewers in large concentrations.

Bone Jelly - Although bone jellies are most often formed when another type of ooze, such as a crimson pudding or translucent slime, feeds too heavily off of undead creatures, they have been known to be created purposefully by alchemists and warlocks working in tandem. These gruesome creatures are formed from the bodies of the undead, appearing as flowing amalgamations of flesh and bone. As such, they share many of the same strengths and vulnerabilities as zombies or ghouls in addition to those they possess as oozes.

Crimson Pudding - This class of flesh-rending ooze is formed out of the flesh and blood of living creatures. They are named for their semi-translucent bodies, which are colored a deep red and contain undissolved limbs and bits of flesh that are clearly visible from the outside. Crimson puddings are especially dangerous because they can absorb flesh and blood merely by coming into contact with it.

Ebon Sludge - A weaker form of ooze, ebon sludges are formed out of tar and known for being especially sticky. Weapons tend to cling to their bodies, and those who attack are often covered in tar, making movement difficult.

Pyroclastic Flow - A counterpart to its cousin, the alabaster slush, the pyroclastic flow is an extremely dangerous ooze composed of molten lava. Its presence is filled the overwhelming heat of a volcano, and those who attack it have been known to burst into flames.

Translucent Slime - Another weak form of ooze, translucent slimes are the closest to pure acid. They are capable of dissolving objects that so much as come into contact with them, including weapons. As such, its often best to attack them from a distance.

Universal Solvent - A legendary form of ooze, a universal solvent is formed by rapidly condensing many others oozes into one. It is known to exude an extremely toxic cloud wherever it goes, and can instantly dissolve anything it touches. Entire towns have been wiped out without a trace by lone universal solvents. Thankfully, the reaction that sustains them is even more voracious than their appetite, and so universal solvents will quickly become inert on their own if left unchecked.